The NBA’s Not Going to Return to Normalcy Anytime Soon
The NBA is possibly returning soon but people should temper their expectations of enjoying entertaining basketball
Well folks, it looks like we’re about to get some positive news in these dark times. The NBA is in its beginning stages of making a return soon.
The league announced on their Twitter page that they have begun exploratory conversations with Disney about possibly restarting the 2019–2020 NBA season at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida as a single site for them to continue the season without hassle.
This is great news for the sports world. Considering everything that has been happening this year, it would be nice to have some distraction from the constant state of panic we’ve been living in for the past couple months. It’s also no secret that athletes have been itching to get back to playing their perspective sports. NBA players can finally finish up the lost season and playoff teams can try to compete for the championship. Things are finally looking normal.
However, there’s just one problem with this belief that things can return to normal: there is no normalcy. Sadly, we’re no where near out of the woods just yet.
As of this writing, the COVID-19 Global Pandemic is still ravaging the country and nearly over 100,000 people have died due to the virus. While several states are making attempts to be more lenient in terms of opening activities and avoiding a complete shutdown, we are still in a situation where it’s far from completely safe to continue socialization like before. There’s no real guarantee that things will be safe once players return to their designated practice facilities. The NBA may feel like they have to take a gamble to return to the season even though it’s pretty much pointless as of now for attempting to save a lost season.
Plus most athletes do not even live near where their perspective teams practice. They will now have to find their way back to the cities where the teams practice even if that means that they are putting themselves at risk by flying to said cities. Some of them have serious concerns on the matter.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ power forward Larry Nance Jr. — who suffers Crohn’s Disease — has expressed his fears over whether or not its truly safe to return since he takes immunosuppressive medication and him stepping on the court immediately could put him at serious risk.
“I would hope there would be an understanding (from the league) if someone didn’t feel comfortable coming back that you’d get a pass,” Nance told ESPN. “Just because you may look like the picture of health, some people have issues you can’t see.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said that a conference call between NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league owners discussed public safety for the players and the staff and that testing was the definitive concern. There’s a high possibility that someone could test positive and if that’s the case it could mean another shutdown.
Discussions centered on health and safety concerns, including the goal of getting team officials and players comfortable with the idea that a positive test for the coronavirus upon a return would not shutter play.
Silver told those on the call that if a positive test would “shut us down, we probably shouldn’t go down this path.”
There is also still no decision on what the format all 30 NBA teams would take if the season were to resume. The league offices haven’t finalized a plan on whether all 30 teams would either return completing the regular season games or jump right into the playoffs with the 16 teams that qualify. They are not even sure if they should attempt to give other teams a chance to compete for the 16 slots and have an in-tournament competition. There are a lot of variables that need to be discussed and it isn’t going to be an overnight decision. Every factor is crucial and needs to be taken into consideration.
Then you have to consider the fact that some people may already have the virus and do not even know it. Utah Jazz All Star Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19 and he didn’t show any symptoms of the virus prior to being tested. Testing would have to be done for every single personnel entering and leaving a facility and there needs to be enough for everyone. It cannot be exclusive for those who only show symptoms. The NBA would have to provide extensive resources for this to be possible.
The league may also need to embrace the fact that people will not be allowed to attend the games. They will essentially have to play in an empty arena in a blank atmosphere. You’re not going to hear players feed off the crowd energy because all of them will be at home. You definitely won’t hear music or any of the soundscapes that people will be accustomed to. That all goes out the window. Players will only hear themselves, a bouncing ball, and their sneakers for the duration of these games. Perhaps to a basketball purist that’s all fine and dandy. However, to those looking for flair and pizzazz in their games be prepared to be disappointed.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in previous interviews the only way sports can return this summer is that no fans can be in attendance and players being kept in quarantine for the duration of their seasons.
“Nobody comes to the stadium,” Fauci said. “Put [the players] in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveyed. … Have them tested every single week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out.”
So if you’re expecting some excitement in your basketball come this summer assuming the NBA returns, you may want to temper those expectations. Sadly, the world we live in now is the new normal and until this pandemic ends the old normalcy that we were once used to isn’t coming back anytime soon. The NBA will have their hands full of trying to salvage a lost season. Plus, they will also need to prepare for next season as the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic outbreak is likely to happen again in the Fall. While ideally the league should just take their losses, cancel the season, and prepare for the Fall since that’s when things are likely to go bad again, they obviously won’t because money.
People want their sports back and that’s fine. Perhaps they should be more worried on ensuring the safety of themselves and others so tragedies like this do not happen in the future.
*additional information from ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports, NY Times, USA TODAY, American Medical Association
